Flying Machine is back

After a long hiatus from advertising, denim major Flying Machine is staging a comeback. And this time there's more than jeans

Ritujoy Chakrabortyagencyfaqs!NEW DELHI, 23 December

"Flying Machine, yeah that's my jean, f-f-f-f-Flying Machine," went the jingle for one of the most recognisable denim brands of the early '90s. Among the first movers in home-grown denim brands, Flying Machine's advertising attained cult-following and commanded high recall. But then somewhere along the line, all advertising came to a near stand-still and the brand all but died. From being 'my jean', it became nobody's jean.

But if its new advertising efforts are any indication, the 21-year old brand is on a serious comeback bid. Parent company Arvind Brands Ltd. (ABL) has earmarked Rs 3-crore for the brand's ad-spend over the current fiscal. Significant, since that's 10 per cent of ABL's total annual ad-spend of Rs 30-crore for all its brands that include Newport, Ruf & Tuf, Lee, Arrow, Excalibur, Wrangler and Flying Machine's non-denim sister brand, Ruggers. And now, the Flying Machine brand will also have non-denim casual apparel under it -cotton trousers at Rs 845, cotton shirts at Rs 645 to Rs 995 and non-denim jackets at Rs 895 to Rs 995.

For the entire Flying Machine range, agency Lintas has created a series of three print ads, two TVCs, an unspecified number of hoardings, and a catchy baseline of 'Get in' The print ads are being released in Outlook, Business World, Citadel, Sportstar, Stardust and other publications. The TVCs are running on Star Plus, Zee Cinema, Star Movies, MTV, and Star News. "In all cases, the target is the youth and the young-at-heart," says a company official.

Govind Mirchandani, president, Arvind Brands Ltd explains the company's renewed interest in the Flying Machine brand, "We believe that in the next 2 to 3 years, the thrust in the market is going to come from denims. Since Flying Machine remains the leading brand in the mid-priced segment (around Rs 800), we feel the communication effort is at the right time. And we feel the addition of the casuals to the Flying Machine brand nicely rounds off the range."

"There are changes planned on the distribution front as well. Flying Machine apparel will now be sold only through exclusive outlets and A-grade multi-brand outlets,' adds Nitin Chhabra, area manager, Flying Machine & Ruggers, ABL (North).

For the current fiscal, Arvind Brands Ltd. is looking at ending the year with a turnover of Rs 300-crores, as compared to last year's Rs 226 crores, a projected growth of around 33 per cent. If achieved, the growth rate would be higher than both the industry growth rates - in jeans, the market is growing at 12-15 per cent annually, whereas for non-denim casuals, the market growth rate is 20 per cent annually.